(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democratic candidate for Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat, came under heavy scrutiny Thursday after scandalous details of his messy divorce were exposed.
Gallego reportedly blindsided his then-wife, Kate Gallego, by filing for divorce just weeks before she was due to give birth—and even asked a judge to make her pay the legal proceedings.
A little over a year after the divorce was finalized, Gallego wasted no time meeting his future wife, 25-year-old Sydney Barron, who is 14 years younger than him.
The potentially damning revelations, first reported by The Washington Free Beacon, came to light as Gallego campaigns against Republican Kari Lake for the Arizona Senate seat, which became open after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema declined to run for re-election.
According to the Free Beacon, Gallego filed for divorce on Dec. 15, 2016, claiming the marriage was “irretrievably broken” with no “reasonable prospect of reconciliation.”
At the time, Kate, then a Phoenix city council member (now the city’s mayor), countered that she was “without knowledge of information sufficient to form a belief” about Gallego’s claims of no chance for reconciliation.
Gallego also asked a judge to make Kate pay for the divorce proceedings. She countered by asking the judge to make him cover the costs instead. Gallego also sought to deny his wife “long-term spousal maintenance,” as reported by the Free Beacon.
The divorce was finalized in April 2017, and by February 2019, Gallego had already become engaged. He and Barron married in December 2019 but publicly announced their engagement in February 2020, the Free Beacon reported.
The divorce’s details had been kept under wraps at the request of both Kate and Gallego, both high-profile Democratic politicians.
Whoa.. @RubenGallego actually admitted in court that he believes politicians should be treated “differently” than regular citizens.
Ruben thinks he’s better than us. pic.twitter.com/0wQZaQNQbP
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) October 17, 2024
Gallego has served in Congress since 2014, following four years in the Arizona House of Representatives. Kate served on the Phoenix City Council from 2014 to 2018 before being elected Phoenix Mayor in 2019.
Gallego is polling 50 percent to Lake’s 41 percent ahead of the November election.
Lake’s team responded on X. See below for their full response.
How did Ruben Gallego respond to the horrific details about how he served his unsuspecting wife with divorce papers days before she gave birth?
He demanded Kari Lake apologize!
Our statement on the shocking revalations from Gallego’s unsealed divorce records ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/3iK8QNTRro
— Caroline Wren (@CarolineWren) October 17, 2024
Thank you for always being by my side, Jeff ♥️ pic.twitter.com/wvkHuvhCet
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) October 17, 2024
